Start spreading the news (da, da da da daaah)...

... I'm leaving today... I want to be a part of it, New York, New York!

Okay, so we're moving to New York City this August! Peter, Katie, the new little one (to be arriving soon - due date in 10 days!) and I will be flying out of this Nordic city and arriving in Manhattan, where we will be starting a new chapter, so to speak!

I'll be starting as a Ph.D student in political science at Columbia University! Wow, I'm intimidated, but I'm also so excited - I've got to kick my brain back into gear and get ready for some serious studying!



Meanwhile, Peter is preparing for his new stay-at-home-dad role, which he is looking forward to! I'm thinking it's going to be hard to start studying full time when Bjorn (as he's going to be called) is only 2 1/2 months old, but I know his daddy will be taking fantastic care of him while I'm over at the library. And, we'll be living in university family housing, which means I will have all of 5 minutes (walking) commute time!

We're excited - now, aside from our impending birth, there's just a few details we're sorting out here... our apartment's been sold (we're so thankful this has gone so smoothly!!), and now it's just immigration and a trans-atlantic move to wrap up! :)

And the verdict is

It's a boy! He hasn't come out to meet us yet, but we could tell quite clearly on the ultrasound - the tech could see it, we could see it, another tech could see it, so we're pretty darn sure! We've decided his name will be Bjorn (Bjørn with Danish spelling) - which actually means "bear" and is from Peter's family. So, we've got a little bear! I'll post his new ultrasound picture soon.

And our other news is, that I've applied to several American and Canadian PhD programs in Political Science - this isn't a new development, since I've been thinking through my own research interests and researching programs for almost a year, but I was debating with myself about whether I want everyone to know I'm applying if it turns out I don't get in anywhere! So now it's out there, and if my applications bite the dust, well, you already know I'm not perfect. While I'd be very disappointed, I'll get on with life and find something I'm interesting in doing as I start my career.

How do a new baby and starting a PhD program fit together, you may ask? Good question! I'm sure it will be challenging, but here I'm incredibly blessed, since Peter wants to do the stay-at-home-dad thing for one or two years while I get started. This was a big obstacle for me when I began to think of it, and then I realized that lots of men have started careers while their wives were at home with the kids, and since Peter is such a fantastic dad and wants to do this, why shouldn't I go for it?

I'll keep you updated on what happens - I believe there is a good place for us to be, and that God does have a loving plan for our family - we're just eager to see where the next year will take us!

Some news, and waiting for more

Yeah... when I last blogged in September I was pretty determined to keep my blog up ... and now it's been 4 months! My old friend Mike, I've just seen, sort of apologized for slacking in keeping up his blog - and he last wrote 3 weeks ago! Well, I won't even try to promise that I'll update it really often, but here's to hoping it becomes a little more regular!

First, the big news (and yes, I'm terribly late in posting it): we are expecting our second child, with a due date of June 18 this year. (I'm betting on the 15th - it's not scientific, but if you want an explanation, I figure that 2nd children come a little earlier than first ones?)

Here's a picture of the little guy/girl at our ultrasound on December 14:


We're hoping to find out if it's a boy or girl at the next ultrasound next wednesday, Jan. 31! And are also looking forward to seeing the baby again - it's so much fun to see them moving and see that they are healthy! So we're feeling happy and blessed.





Some pictures of Katie...



a serious reader

















With her girl cousins here in Denmark




















and with her favorite Christmas present!

so it's been awhile

Well, I pretty much set the record for shameful lapses in blogging - but really, in the scheme of things, who cares?

We have enjoyed a fabulous summer in the US - we spent a lot of time at the Oregon Coast and in Portland, and made it up to Seattle and Vancouver a few times. We took a great camping trip in Central Oregon, which was gorgeous. We got to see a lot of friends, though we wish we would have gotten even more time with them! And had lots of time with family. We even made it over to the East Coast for a couple of weeks, which was really fun. We hit Toronto, Boston, New York and Washington, new experiences for both of us: even though I was in New York and Washington on a school trip as a teenager, it was pretty different seeing it now, of course!

Katie is growing so fast - she hasn't started walking on her own yet, but would like to walk everywhere if given the chance - she needs to work up some more confidence, I guess!


Peter and Kathryn in West Seattle, in June.



In West Seattle enjoying the breeze, in June.



First time in the sand! In Pacific City, Oregon, in June.


I can see that I'm going to need to add some of the pictures later - not sure which file they're in!

It's nice to be home now, and I've just started studying arabic in the evenings! Don't know if that was a dumb move, but I'm certainly enjoying it!

So I can ask things like,
ما سموكا؟
(what is your name?), which I'm sure I spelled wrong - have no idea how these arabic letters work on the computer keyboard...

So, a resolution - will try to keep up with the blogging now that I'm home. :)

starting civil wars

Today's New York Times reports that Bush was so determined to go to war in Iraq in early 2003 that he even proposed sparking a confrontation by painting "a United States surveillance plane in the colors of the United Nations in hopes of drawing fire, or assassinating Mr. Hussein."
Not a big surprise: anybody paying even moderate attention to diplomatic signals being sent publicly from early 2002 could see that the US Administration was doing everything it could to discredit the possibility that UN inspections could work (and in so doing, made it less likely that Iraq would cooperate in the first place). But that's over and done with now. Now, with the major ethnic groups fighting one another more and more brutally, it's clear that the war we did go into was - hmm, how do I put this? - not very well thought out. We're now on the brink of civil war.

So what do we do? I think a lot of anti-war people in the US have it wrong when they want to pull the troops out immediately - we may not like having our troops occupying Iraq but seen internationally, it would be completely irresponsible of us to pull out now, leaving a huge mess we helped to create.

In the long-term, we have to ask ourself what we want our government to care about most in the Middle East: 1) democracy as each country's voters decide it, 2) our special brand of secular (at least, non-islamistic) liberal democracy or 3) secure oil reserves. Even when I was living in France (and you know most of the French think) I have always doubted very much that our government really put #3 ahead of #1 or #2, no matter how misguided and arrogant their policies are. But more and more I'm convinced that the old boys club of oilmen that have enormous influence in the current Administration just can't ever get it out of their system. I've been convinced Bush is a disaster for a long time, and a dangerous one, but now we've got to start doing something about it - the next election is only 2 years away.

She's growing fast!

Wow, being a parent is incredible. I feel like I have received such a wonderful gift, being able to watch a sweet, joyful little person live and learn and grow. Katie is sitting up by herself now, getting frustrated when her plan for a toy doesn't work (though we can't always tell what it is she wants to do...). I do feel too, like being a parent is a very real reminder about God's parent-love for us - only so many more times more understanding and all-encompassing than I can imagine extending to another person, even Katie. And I guess I am even more dependent on Him than she is on me... even when I don't see it myself.

Some pictures of the little one:


"Gotta show Mommy how this writing thing's done... babybloggers unite!"


Sweet Katie!


"Berkeley, here I come!"


Another new development - drinking from a sippy cup by herself!(Unless she's tired - then she needs some help from Mommy or Daddy!)


"My parents have totally fallen for me, and I know it!"

a change...

It is so wonderful to see the seasons beginning to change... finally. The last snow is melting now, and though we've still got freezing weather at night, the days are beginning to warm (slowly!) up. Even more promising, the days are quickly getting longer, sun now comes through our living room window for 15 minutes each afternoon, and trees and flowers are beginning to bud!

I've also just changed the name and description of my blog... I suppose most as a challenge to myself. When I started it, I tried several names but couldn't for the life of me come up with a good name. I may very well change it again later, but this reflects a little better the fact that I can't seem to stop mixing discussion of politics with my everyday ramblings, and to challenge myself to give my political diatribes a more constructive direction!

Hope that spring is coming where you are too - it feels like hope and warmth, two things we could use a little more of in general.